Parts of Speech

Since we have discussed, I want to share a link where we can find a table that discussed the functions of each part of speech and gave example. I hope this would help us understand more the different parts of speech. I also posted a link where you can practice it.

Links:
http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/parts-of-speech_1.htm
http://a4esl.org/q/f/z/zz30fna.htm


KYLE PASCUAL

It's time to do a business letter!

When the time comes for us to work, we will most probably be doing a lot of business letters. I searched for some tips on writing a good business letter and I found some tips I never heard before. 

One of those is the difference between the use of "Yours faithfully" and "Yours sincerely".

When the recipient name is unknown, we use "Yours faithfully" while we use "Yours sincerely" when we know the recipient's name. 

For other interesting tips with regards to writing a business letter, visit this site http://speakspeak.com/resources/general-english-vocabulary/business-letter-writing-phrases

    

Dangling participles

In academic writing, dangling participles can cause serious misunderstandings. Consider the following sentence: "After winning the Peloponnesian war, Athens was ruled briefly by the Spartans." By juxtaposing "winning" and "Athens," the sentence implies that Athens won the Peloponnesian War, which is wrong. The Spartans won the war. The sentence should be rephrased so that the participle is closer to the Spartans than to Athens: "After winning the Peloponnesian War, the Spartans ruled Athens briefly." Or, you can just rewrite the sentence and not use a participle: "After the Spartans won the Peloponnesian War, Athens was briefly in their control." Remember that precision is at a premium when writing history!"

Yesterday was Friday the 13th. Is it a fact or a superstition? I looked up on it and found its origin and folklore on why it is unlucky. There is also called paraskevidekatriaphobia or the fear of Friday the 13th. Try to read more of it at: http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/friday_the_13th.htm


Reference:
Emery, D. (2012, January 13). Why Friday the 13th Is Unlucky. Retrieved January 14, 2012 from the World Wide Web: http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/friday_the_13th.htm

-one vs. -body

Everybody vs. Everyone

and

Nobody vs. No one

These pronouns - everybody and everyone, nobody and no one - have the same meaning unless of comes after them.

Example:

No one of these men knows it.

Every one of us knows about it.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxph9synct1qbolbn.jpg

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/pronouns/indefinite-pronouns

Re post: Big Things Starts from Smaller Ones

When I was in high school, I thought that prepositions were just single-worded part of speech that is why they are really dangerous especially in academic writing. I found out that there were some kind called "complex prepositions" that were not single-worded one. Complex prepositions are a word group that functions as a single preposition that may be two-word or three-word.

Some examples are:

  In addition to single-word preposition, there are others called complex preposition.

  She is a great composer  as well as  a great Musical Director.

  There are garbage  in front of  the door.

DID YOU KNOW THAT. .?

Some English & Language Trivia to brighten up your day!

• Dreamt is the only English word that ends in the letters
  mt.
• Los Angeles’s full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la
  Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula and can be
  abbreviated to 3.63% of its size, L.A.
• The symbol on the “pound” key (#) is called an octothorpe. 
• The word set has more definitions than any other word in the
  English language.
• Underground is the only word in the English language that
  begins and ends with the letters “und.”
• There are only four words in the English language which end
  in”-dous” tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, andhazardous.
• The longest one-syllable word in the English language is
  screeched.
• The longest word in the English language, according to the
  Oxford English Dictionary,
  is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
  The only other word with the same amount of letters is
  pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconioses, its plural.
• There is a seven letter word in the English language that
  contains ten words without rearranging any of its letters,
  therein the, there, he, in, rein, her, here, ere, therein, herein. Does the sporting goods store REI count too?
• Stewardesses is the longest word that is typed with only the
  left hand. (On a QWERTY keyboard)
• Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct
  order, as does arsenious, meaning “containing arsenic.”
• The combination ough can be pronounced in nine different
  ways.The following sentence contains them all “A rough-coated,
  dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough;
  after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.”
• The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a
  letter is uncopyrightable.
• The dot over the letter ‘i’ is called a tittle.
• The word checkmate in chess comes from the Persian phrase
  “Shah Mat,” which means “the king is dead”.

From: http://www.tomisimo.org/blog/2006/language-learning/english-trivia/

Happy new year everyone!

Mikko Ong (08-07976)